KIWITEA 1925-1955

BuilderWilliam Gray & Co LtdWhere BuiltWest Hartlepool, EnglandDate Built1925Tonnage2346 GRTPropulsionSingle screw steamOwners & Previous Names1925-55 USSCoAdditional NotesOne of three sister ships which were specialist colliers and fitted with the latest coal handling equipment and corrugated steel hatch covers which replaced the traditional wooden hatch covers. They also had additional ballast tanks for use when the colliers were returning empty to the West Coast. One of the three KAPONGA had a short life being stranded on the Greymouth bar on May 1932 and became a total loss. The other sister KARTIGI had an identical career to KIWITEA and they were both towed in tandem to Hong Kong in 1955 and broken up.
Assisted in the salvage of Greek flagged steamer KOTOR which went ashore near North Cape on 29 June 1944.